And Nathalie Dubois-Sissoko, in Cape Breton this week as the special guest speaker at Friday's Destination Cape Breton Association 2014 Industry Day and Gala Tourism Hall of Fame awards dinner at the Inverary Inn in Baddeck, has done more than most to get the word out.

The CEO of California-based Dubois Pelin and Associates has worked with more than 700 companies and produces at least six gifting suites per year in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia at major events such as the Golden Globes, the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival.

In short, what Dubois does is find interesting and unique gift items from around the world to place in gift packages for the celebrities who attend these events. Hollywood celebrities have all the money they need, so authentic and original products are what pique their interest.

"I first discovered Cape Breton throughout the Internet," she said, explaining that she had become curious about the island after a friend visited Cape Breton and told her about it. Dubois Googled Cape Breton and read a number of articles about Cape Breton craftspeople and designers and was immediately interested in working with them.

In September of 2012, she came to Sydney to meet with Michelle Newcombe and Monique Delisle, the designers behind Michique handbags. It short order their handbags were in the gifting suites at the Golden Globes, giving their product world-wide exposure.

"When I arrived in Cape Breton, I was very charmed by the place. It felt like it was home — the people were extremely nice," she said. "And it's very rich in creativity. I found a lot of brands and companies that were very charming, that had something that these celebrities would like."

It won't be long before publicity-shy American celebrities will start considering Cape Breton as a suitable travel destination, she added.

"Celebrities are going to realize that it isn't all that far (to come to Cape Breton)," she said. "I think Cape Breton is a very special and has amazing potential. For Cape Breton, we started with all these companies (for our gifting suites) and then moved on to the island as a destination.

"But it's a process, and not something that will happen overnight. Here, Hollywood stars would feel like normal people. That's what I'm looking for in this region — bring them to the Cabot Trail and places like that; they'll be refreshed and brought back to reality."

Dubois has been working closely with Destination Cape Breton CEO Mary Tulle on building the Cape Breton name as a tourist destination for American celebrities. Destination Cape Breton set up vacation packages for gifting suites at both the 2013 and 2014 Golden Globes, but there were no takers. Far from discouraged, Tulle sees it all as part of the process of building the Cape Breton brand as a tourism destination.

"It won't happen over a year," she said, "but movie stars have begun thinking about it — the idea is planted in their minds. This is a different form of marketing. And we are very fortunate to be aligned with Natalie on this."

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We don't need celebrities. We need the middle to upper middle class families from Boston, NYC and Connecticut that used to visit us in droves. My family in Boston says most people there have no idea what Cape Breton is. Do they even market to people there?